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About Sunjeev Bery

Sunjeev Bery serves as Middle East North Africa Advocacy Director at Amnesty International USA. He lobbies government officials and diplomats on human rights concerns across the MENA region. He has testified before the U.S. Senate and briefed Members of Congress on the intersection of U.S. foreign policy and human rights. He is a frequent guest commentator on major news media, including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC, Al Jazeera, Al Arabia, and Huffington Post Live. His comments have appeared in a wide range of print media as well, including The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, AP, and international newspapers.
Previously, Sunjeev served as a regional director for the American Civil Liberties Union, where his work included advocacy on police oversight, immigrant rights, and post-9/11 security policies. He has also served as a federal public interest lobbyist on student financial aid issues and as a fundraiser for environmental and human rights organizations. Sunjeev holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Harvard Public Service Fellow. He is a recipient of the 2007 Asian Law Alliance Community Impact Award and has received commendations from the California State Senate and Assembly for his human rights advocacy.
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All of this happened on the eve of this weekend’s runoff elections for the presidency. On Saturday and Sunday, voters went to the polls to choose between two presidential candidates — Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mursi has claimed victory, and Egyptian media are also reporting that to be the case. Whoever wins the presidency will take office without a parliament, a constitution, or defined presidential powers, and will have to negotiate with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) — the military leadership. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Trapped between a crushing Israeli blockade and human rights violations at home, the 1.6 million Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip face many challenges in their daily lives. In our 2012 Annual Report, Amnesty International catalogues the list, from a humanitarian crisis created by the Israeli blockade to detention and torture by Hamas security forces.

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There are reports that at least one of the four “confessed” to the crime of murder after being tortured.

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Meanwhile, Palestinian armed groups have used the Gaza Strip to fire indiscriminate rockets and mortars into southern Israel. Daniel Viflic, aged 16, died in 2011 after a school bus in which he was travelling was struck by a missile fired from Gaza.

The latest news is that four Gaza Palestinians are facing execution after being given the death penalty by Hamas military and criminal courts. There are reports that at least one of the four “confessed” to the crime of murder after being tortured. The family of Na’el Jamal Qandil Doghmosh has stated that when they saw him after two months in prison, his nails had been torn out and there were burns and bruises on his body.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gives a rare rare televised speech delivered in parliament on June 3, 2012. Assad said that his government faces a foreign plot to destroy Syria, and blamed 'monsters' for the Houla massacre. (Photo Louai Beshara/AFP/GettyImages)

Yesterday, Syrian President Bashar Assad justified his government’s actions by comparing himself to a doctor trying to save a patient. As reported by the Associated Press, Assad stated in a speech:

When a surgeon in an operating room … cuts and cleans and amputates, and the wound bleeds, do we say to him your hands are stained with blood? Or do we thank him for saving the patient?

The disturbing words come against a backdrop of horrifying violence. Amnesty International has received the names of nearly 10,000 people killed since the government began cracking down on peaceful protestors over a year ago. Although peaceful demonstrations have continued, the unrest has turned increasingly violent. Armed opposition groups, many loosely under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), have also carried out attacks — mainly against Syrian security forces.

A masked Egyptian protester runs after picking up a tear gas canister fired by riot police during clashes near the interior ministry in Cairo on February 4, 2012. (Photo KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Under Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, thousands of people experienced torture and other human rights abuses. So far, government accountability for these violations has been almost nonexistent.

Egyptians may get the first steps towards accountability tomorrow, when a verdict is expected in the trial of Mubarak on charges of killing protesters during the “January 25 Revolution” last year. Some 840 protesters were killed and more than 6000 injured during the uprising that forced Mubarak to step down in February 2011. But while significant, this trial does not delve into the human rights abuses under Mubarak’s rule for the three decades prior to the revolution. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Following the deaths of at least 108 people in Houla, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the Syrian government that it “bears the main responsibility for what is going on.” But despite these strong words, Russia continues to obstruct meaningful UN Security Council action that could stop the violence in Syria.

As reported in The Telegraph (UK), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov later stated, “We believe that a review now by the Security Council of any new measures on the situation would be premature.”

Meanwhile, Syrian civilians continue to be killed in a government campaign that amounts to crimes against humanity. Since the Syrian government’s crackdown began last March, Amnesty International has received the names of some 9,750 people who have been killed, including more than 700 children. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

On Friday, the Syrian military brutally killed over 100 people in Houla, Syria. Our sources tell us that the barrage of shells, mortars, rockets and raids on Friday left at least 108 dead, including 34 women and 50 children.

The horrifying violence has had geopolitical repercussions around the world:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovstated, “The government bears the main responsibility for what is going on.” It was a surprising departure from past statements by Russian officials that provided diplomatic cover for Syrian government violence.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhoodcalled on “Arab, Islamic and international governments … and the people of the free world to intervene to stop these massacres.”

A Bahraini man walks past graffiti that reads 'Your weapons will not make us bow' (AFP/GettyImages)

Last week, the Obama Administration announced that the US Government is providing new arms shipments to the government of Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the Bahrain monarchy continues to avoid basic accountability for its ongoing human rights violations. Not a single senior Bahraini official is publicly known to have been investigated for the many acts of torture, imprisonment, and even killings that have been documented.

In a public statement, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the military items being given to Bahrain “are not used for crowd control.” Ms. Nuland also stated that the items sent to Bahrain would not include the “TOW missiles and Humvees” that Amnesty International and other organizations opposed late last year.

A masked Egyptian protester runs after picking up a tear gas canister fired by riot police during clashes near the interior ministry in Cairo on February 4, 2012. (Photo KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)

When the news finally came, it was through the back door. Last week, US Senator Patrick Leahy posted a public statement expressing “disappointment” with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s decision to waive new Congressional human rights requirements on US aid to Egypt.

In Senator Leahy’s words:

The Egyptian military should be defending fundamental freedoms and the rule of law … They should end trials of civilians in military courts and fully repeal the Emergency Law, and our policy should not equivocate on these key reforms.

But four months after the NATO military campaign, Libya still faces massive human rights challenges. From ongoing torture to a political system balkanized by rival militias, it is clear that the departure of a dictator does not guarantee the protection of human rights.

Indeed, NATO itself has not fulfilled its responsibility to the survivors of the conflict.

In our latest report, Amnesty International highlights the continued suffering of civilian victims of NATO airstrikes in Libya. As airstrike survivor Mustafa Naji al-Morabit told my colleagues during a research mission to Libya:SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

On March 1st, my colleagues in our London office pulled the plug on Amnesty’s scheduled mission to Bahrain. We had sought to spend a full week in the country, talking to government officials, human rights advocates, victims, and others. But at the end of the day, the government of Bahrain told us that weekend visits aren’t allowed.

In direct conversation and via Twitter, Bahraini officials stated that we could come to the country for five weekdays at a time. But if we wanted to talk to Bahrainis during their Friday / Saturday weekend, the answer was no. Other human rights organizations received the same message.